By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SJvSKC | May 22, 2021

"By The Numbers" is a season-long series presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.
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1,149  The number of people injured in an alcohol-related crash in Kansas in 2019.

A compelling Western Conference showdown awaits Saturday night at Avaya Stadium as third-place Sporting Kansas City (3-2-1, 10 points) visits the San Jose Earthquakes (3-3-0, 9 points) in a rematch of the epic 2020 playoff battle between the storied MLS originals. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. CT with live coverage on Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Midwest, BallySports.com, the Bally Sports app, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

Additionally, all Sporting fans in the Kansas City area are invited to the official watch party for Saturday's match at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light District (1370 Grand Blvd.). No Other Pub will offer food and drink specials from 8:30 p.m. CT until full time—including $4 Michelob Ultras, $4 select call cocktails and $2 off appetizers—and Sporting will conduct several ticket giveaways for the next home match on May 29 at Children's Mercy Park.

As two attack-minded teams prepare to square off this weekend, we take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By the Numbers, presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Head-to-Head

• Sporting and San Jose last met in the first round of the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs at Children's Mercy Park, playing to a wild 3-3 draw before Tim Melia saved all three San Jose penalty kicks to seal a 3-0 shootout victory.
• Sporting are 6-1-3 against San Jose in the last nine competitive meetings dating back to September 2016. San Jose's lone win during that stretch was a 4-1 result at Avaya Stadium in April 2019.
• Sporting are 2-1-1 in their last four visits to Avaya Stadium after going winless in 18 straight away games at San Jose from 2000-2016.
• Sporting and San Jose haven't met in the regular season since Aug. 17, 2019 at Children's Mercy Park, when the hosts emerged with a 2-1 win behind goals from Benny Feilhaber and Graham Smith.
• Since August 2004, the home team in this fixture is 23-3-5 across all competitions.
• San Jose forward Chris Wondolowski has scored 11 goals in 20 career MLS matches against Sporting (including playoffs). He has scored in each of his last two appearances in the series. Wondolowski is the all-time leading scorer in MLS history with 168 regular season goals.

San Jose Earthquakes

• MLS record:3-3-0, 9 points
• MLS standings: 5th in West
• MLS home record: 2-2-0 (7 GF, 5 GA)
• Last five matches: 3-2-0, 9 points (W-W-W-L-L)
• Last match: Lost 2-0 vs. Portland Timbers on May 15
• San Jose's 18 combined goals (10) and goals conceded (8) are tied for the most in MLS this season.
• San Jose is one of three MLS teams without a shutout this season, alongside winless clubs FC Cincinnati and Chicago Fire FC.
• Since Matias Almeyda took over as head coach in 2019, San Jose's 64 MLS matches have averaged 3.39 goals per game (including playoffs). That's the second-highest clip in the league behind LAFC (3.67).
• San Jose won their first two home matches this season by a combined score of 7-2. However, they have failed to score in each of their last two home games, falling 1-0 to Seattle and 2-0 to Portland last week at Avaya Stadium.
• San Jose ranks second in MLS with 57.7% average possession.
• San Jose ranks third in MLS with 6.0 shots on target per game.
• At just 17 years of age, forward Cade Cowell has two goals and a team-best three assists.
• Midfielder Jackson Yueill ranks third in MLS in both passes (361) and passes completed (329). Yueill and Chris Wondolowski are tied for the team lead with two goals apiece.
• Midfielder Eric Remedi ranks fifth in MLS in passes (352), fourth in passes completed (309), second in duels won (51), third in tackles won (13), fifth in interceptions (15) and fourth in touches (487).
• Winger Cristian Espinoza ranks eight in MLS with 13 chances created. He has one goal and one assist on the season.
• Midfielder Carlos Fierro has two assists this season and ranks fourth in MLS with 30 crosses from open play.

Sporting Kansas City

• MLS record:3-2-1, 10 points
• MLS standings: 3rd in West
• MLS away record: 1-2-0 (3 GF, 5 GA)
• Last five matches: 2-2-1, 7 points (T-L-W-L-W)
• Last match: Won 3-0 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC on May 16
• After ranking last in MLS with 4.3 chances created per game through Week 3, Sporting has created 16.7 chances per game in their last three matches.
• Similarly, Sporting averaged 7.7 shots per game through Week 3. They have averaged 22.3 shots per game in their last three matches.
• Sporting leads MLS with three big scoring chances per game.
• Sporting's 91.6% passing accuracy in Sunday's 3-0 win over Vancouver was the club's second-highest mark since Opta began tracking the stat in 2010.
• Sporting leads MLS with six points gained from losing positions this season. The club has gained eight total points from trailing positions in each of the last two seasons.
• Since the start of 2020, Sporting is tied for the MLS lead with six regular season road wins (6-4-2 record) despite losing each of their last two away matches.
• Since the start of 2020, forward Alan Pulido leads MLS with with 0.92 goals and primary assists per 90 minutes (regular season and playoffs) among players with at least 750 minutes played. According to FBRef.com, he also ranks third in MLS in players dribbled past (13) this season.
• Forward Daniel Salloi has two goals and one assist in six appearances this season after recording one goal and one assist in each of the previous two regular seasons combined. He is also tied for first in MLS with 37 touches in the opponent's box.
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia has kept clean sheets in four straight regular season matches. His 360-minute shutout streak in the regular season is the 10th-longest in team history and could move as high as fourth on Saturday.
• Defender Andreu Fontas leads MLS in passes (458), passes completed (402) and touches (531). According to FBRef.com, he also leads MLS in progressive carrying distance and second in successful pressure percentage.
• Defender Luis Martins ranks third in MLS with 31 crosses from open play. He also ranks eighth in MLS with 83 successful passes in the attacking third.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Defender Graham Zusi is one shy of his 348th appearance for Sporting in all competitions, which would tie Matt Besler for the most in club history.

Recent #SJvSKC meetings

• Regular season record vs. San Jose: 27-25-8 (76 GF, 75 GA)
• Regular season away record at San Jose: 6-17-7 (27 GF, 43 GA)

Team Stats (2021 regular season)

(Source: Opta; MLS rank in parenthesis)